TY - JOUR
T1 - Structure of a metacommunity of urban bees: Species diversity and spatio-temporal modularity
AU - Dupont, Yoko L.
AU - Greve, Mette Balslev
AU - Madsen, Henning Bang
AU - Rasmussen, Claus
AU - Timóteo, Sérgio
AU - Olesen, Jens M.
PY - 2024/6
Y1 - 2024/6
N2 - As the globe gets more urbanised, the question about how natural biodiversity is structured in cities becomes increasingly pertinent. To contribute to an answer, we studied species richness and spatio-temporal structure of bees in a North European metropolitan area. A gradient of 13 sites in the city of Aarhus, Denmark, was censused from April to September 2016. Forty species, i.e. 29 solitary species (40 % of all individuals), ten Bombus species (28 %), and Apis mellifera (32 %), were sampled monthly in pan traps. (i) Information about species traits was extracted from the literature, and trait values were correlated and used to characterize the fauna. Most were soil-nesters, pollen generalists, and common. (ii) Habitat diversity within five concentric circles with trap at the centre and radii from 50 m to 1000 m was related to bee α diversity. The relationship was significant only within 1,000 m for all bees and for bumblebees. Solitary bee diversity was uncorrelated with habitat diversity at all spatial levels. (iii) Spatio-temporal structure was analysed as two networks, one for bees linked to sites, and one for bees linked to months. Link patterns were analysed for levels of nestedness, modularity, and spatio-temporal β diversity. The two networks were weakly and non-significantly nested, but strongly modular, being composed of five and four modules of co-occurring bees, respectively. (iv) Finally, we studied total β diversity, βTOTAL, being the sum of species turnover, βTURN, and species loss/gain or nestedness, βNEST. For both site and season, βTURN was higher than βNEST, and site βTOTAL was higher than season βTOTAL. One reason for this metacommunity structure may be a high spatio-temporal habitat patchiness, sustaining a rich biodiversity. Thus, a few large areas may not compensate for the loss of several small patches. Consequently, establishment of many green, even small habitats is recommended.
AB - As the globe gets more urbanised, the question about how natural biodiversity is structured in cities becomes increasingly pertinent. To contribute to an answer, we studied species richness and spatio-temporal structure of bees in a North European metropolitan area. A gradient of 13 sites in the city of Aarhus, Denmark, was censused from April to September 2016. Forty species, i.e. 29 solitary species (40 % of all individuals), ten Bombus species (28 %), and Apis mellifera (32 %), were sampled monthly in pan traps. (i) Information about species traits was extracted from the literature, and trait values were correlated and used to characterize the fauna. Most were soil-nesters, pollen generalists, and common. (ii) Habitat diversity within five concentric circles with trap at the centre and radii from 50 m to 1000 m was related to bee α diversity. The relationship was significant only within 1,000 m for all bees and for bumblebees. Solitary bee diversity was uncorrelated with habitat diversity at all spatial levels. (iii) Spatio-temporal structure was analysed as two networks, one for bees linked to sites, and one for bees linked to months. Link patterns were analysed for levels of nestedness, modularity, and spatio-temporal β diversity. The two networks were weakly and non-significantly nested, but strongly modular, being composed of five and four modules of co-occurring bees, respectively. (iv) Finally, we studied total β diversity, βTOTAL, being the sum of species turnover, βTURN, and species loss/gain or nestedness, βNEST. For both site and season, βTURN was higher than βNEST, and site βTOTAL was higher than season βTOTAL. One reason for this metacommunity structure may be a high spatio-temporal habitat patchiness, sustaining a rich biodiversity. Thus, a few large areas may not compensate for the loss of several small patches. Consequently, establishment of many green, even small habitats is recommended.
KW - Apis
KW - Bumblebees
KW - City
KW - Honeybees
KW - Modularity
KW - Nestedness
KW - Network
KW - Pollinator
KW - Solitary bees
KW - Species turnover
KW - α diversity
KW - β diversity
KW - Apis
KW - Bumblebees
KW - City
KW - Honeybees
KW - Modularity
KW - Nestedness
KW - Network
KW - Pollinator
KW - Solitary bees
KW - Species turnover
KW - α diversity
KW - β diversity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85192018955&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.baae.2024.04.004
DO - 10.1016/j.baae.2024.04.004
M3 - Journal article
SN - 1439-1791
VL - 77
SP - 45
EP - 56
JO - Basic and Applied Ecology
JF - Basic and Applied Ecology
ER -